robbie29

This time next year, we'll be consoling ourselves with the losses of Wagner and Williams by saying, "Hey, at least we got a couple late round comp picks." Whoopdy freakin' doo. I understand that Ozzie loves having a lot of picks, but seriously- I would much rather see the Ravens figure out how to keep talented young players then settle for a few comp picks at the end of rounds 3 thru 6. This Front Office needs to do a better job at retaining talent, but over the last 4 years they've shot themselves in the foot by making bad contract decisions and overpaying average players (Flacco, Webb) as well as aging/injured vets (Suggs, Jimmy Smith). By comparison, successful teams like Pittsburgh and New England have Front Offices that are very good at structuring contracts of key players so that they can sign quality free agents and retain legitimately (Pro Bowl/All Pro) talented youngsters past their rookie contracts. We used to be able to do that. I mean, at one point we had Ray, Reed, Suggs, McAlister, Jamal Lewis, and Boulware all on the roster and all signed past their rookie deals. Recently though, the Ravens have not only experienced a drop in drafted talent, but have been terrible at retaining young talent and negotiating contracts. It's been frustrating enough to watch the Ravens players on the field each of the last two years, but a lot of the fault for the Ravens' fall to mediocrity rests with the Front Office and coaches too.

If you cut Flacco, he'll have a new job in about 10 seconds. And not in Baltimore. Yeah, Ottawa or Saskatchewan would take him in a heartbeat.

The thing about it is don't blame Joe for his contract blame the front office. Joe could've accepted less that he was offered. Joe was probably flattered that they gave him more than he wanted. I agree- it is the front office's fault for Joe's ridiculous contract. They got completely caught up in SB euphoria and handed a ridiculous amount of cash over to Joe. That's just one part of the problem since 2012. I mean for several years we managed to keep guys like R. Lewis, Ogden, Suggs, Ed Reed, Ngata and several other Pro Bowl calibre players past their rookie contract. Now, thanks in large part to dumb decisions like overpaying Flacco and aging/injured veterans, we are unable to keep any of our young talent past their rookie contract. Especially with Suggs and Yanda entering their twilight years, it is pretty difficult to imagine many scenarios where the Ravens can finish much better than 8-8, at least not for the next few years.

So you're basically saying 2014 was better for him because you have eyes, Pro Bowl selections are worthless, and 16 starts for an O Lineman = no big deal. I'm not sure how you can even back up #4, unless you watched every single 2017 NFL game, and can provide a breakdown of all 32 centers and the number of times each one was pushed backwards and tripped their QB (BTW- I hope nobody has that kind of time on their hands bc that's just sad). Oh well, everyone's entitled to their own opinion. Agree to disagree. Go Ravens!

All that math...wait a minute- Is that you, John Urschel?

How do you figure last year was Zuttah's worst season with the Ravens? He started all 16 games and played well enough to earn a Pro Bowl nod. Pro Bowl selection may not be the 100% final say whether a guy is great, but it's pretty clear that he's at least better than most other Centers in the NFL. You could very easily argue that last year was actually Zuttah's best year with the Ravens.

"Very competitive offer" is the Ravens' way of saying "we're probably going to lose yet another young, talented player because we've got all our money invested in aging/injured players and our overrated QB."

"Competitive offer" = we tried but it really looks like we won't have the money to keep Wagner, just like we couldn't afford K.O.

Mangold is an All Pro and likely HOF player. I guarantee that fact isn't lost on the rest of the NFL (except obviously the Jets). Even at 33, I don't think we're going to be able to afford the guy. There are a bunch of teams who are also looking for an upgrade at center, and a bunch of those teams have more money to spend than the Ravens.

Every offseason at least one Raven does something stupid like this. Recently, it seems like several players each off season. 2014 in particular was terrible, then 2 years later we lose 2 TEs due to bone-headed substance abuse issues. Seems like part of the issue is a lack of player cohesion and Team First mentality. These idiots getting themselves suspended or kicked off the team don't seem to give a darn that their actions are negatively impacting the team. Does Harbaugh just not have much influence or is there a lack of legitimate leadership among the players? Obviously the loss of Elam is not a big deal but the yearly trend of losing players either to suspension or being released because of stupid stuff is disturbing. And there are still 5 months to go before training camp starts. Let's hope this Elam incident is the only one this offseason.

Joe Flacco cost us more drives than Zuttah. Heck, Flacco even had more penalties (7) than Zuttah (6). Mangold is 33 and had injury problems last year. The last thing the injury-prone Ravens need is a guy who has problems staying healthy.

"We wont make that mistake when another just as talented right tackle could be gotten in a later round in the draft just like Wagner was picked up." The problem is that Wagner is the exception to the rule. It's highly unlikely we'll get a RT as solid as Wagner in rounds 4-7. The vast majority of O Line players Ozzie picks up in late rounds are guys like Urschel, Harewood, Jensen, or Robert Myers. Ozzie's drafts aren't anything like they were 1996-2006. These days, the misses far outnumber the hits. Another problem is that since all our money is locked up in aging and/or injured players plus our subpar QB, we don't have the money to retain the good players we draft. Once their rookie contract is up, they're gone. I do agree with you about Flacco needing to take a pay cut. Unfortunately, it ain't gonna happen.

Pitta's situation with the Ravens = Brian Roberts & the Orioles

I wouldn't say ridiculous at all. Dumervil has better career numbers sure, but over the last three years, both he and Barwin have similar numbers (same sacks and Barwin actually has more tackles). Consider that Barwin is younger and has started every single game since 2010- that makes him more reliable IMO than Dumervil. Given the Ravens' troubling inability to keep players healthy the last few years, we need as many reliable players as possible who we can expect to be on the field.

Zuttah is the week link I disagree 100% that Zuttah is the weak link. He may have been a late addition to the Pro Bowl roster, but even that is pretty clear evidence that the guy is above average. We're in a much better position at Center than most NFL teams. Unfortunately, the guy we have taking snaps is worse than most other NFL teams.

I really hope we don't cut Zuttah. There are no linemen currently on the roster who would be an upgrade, and there are no improvements available via free agency. I don't know of any legit, starting-calibre centers available via the draft either. Also- Zuttah was the only guy on the line who started all 16 games last year. Considering Baltimore's terrible luck keepinig guys healthy, we need all the reliable guys we can get.

It will be bad for us if the Steelers figure out how to keep Bell and Brown, which would mean they have a Pro Bowl QB, and All Pro RB and WR (a deadly offensive tri-fecta). The fact that they not only draft stellar play makers but also know how to hang on to that talent is why they have made the playoffs 3 of the last 4 years. The fact that we've regressed to where we can neither draft nor retain offensive play makers is a big reason why we've missed the playoffs 3 of the last 4 years. That the Ravens can't keep starters healthy is also an unfortunate contributor to the recent decline into mediocrity. Here's to optimism- hoping we start drafting All Pros, keep our guys healthy, and figure out how to hang on to our young play makers beyond their rookie contract.Go Ravens!

No thanks we don't need older players on the cheap we need younger faster ,stronger players Where is the money going to come from to pay for those younger, faster players? The FO is already over-paying Flacco and our aging/injury-prone veterans. That severely limits our ability to sign playmakers.

I'd say definitely. He's more proven, didn't have nearly the dramatic dropoff in production that Kamar had last year, and Garcon is more sure-handed than Aiken (something the Ravens offense desperately needs). Garcon is a definite upgrade IMO.

"when healthy"...that's been the tragic prefix/suffix to most Ravens players in recent years. I say tragic because, more often than not, the guys who are great "WHEN HEALTHY" often miss significant playing time due to injury. Last year was particularly brutal- we lost all our top 3 TEs, plus our 2nd & 3rd picks, and a 4th round pick. Heck, even Stanley missed a quarter of the season. It's one thing if the older guys go down, bc you have younger guys who can step up. But when your young guys go down and you have to start your 2nd and 3rd string players, you end up with an 8-8 or a 5-11 record. Kinda hard to re-build and do well when you can't keep your draft picks on the field.

So you're essentially saying that the Ravens need a roster overhaul to become good again?

The NFL is becoming more and more like WWE- it's more about entertaining and less about playing the freakin' game. With all the billions that are tied up in the league, each week and especially the Super Bowl- there's no way I'll believe that a lot of what we're seeing ain't scripted. Heck, we're probably just a few years away from entire seasons being choreographed.

February, March, and almost all of April... That nearly 3-month void of nothing after the Super Bowl just sucks. Why doesn't the NFL add 2 games to the schedule, extend the season one more month and give each team an additional bye? Make these guys work a little harder for their pay.

IF he does decide to coach, let's just hope Ray decides to re-join the Ravens. Ed Reed spent nearly his entire career with the Ravens but then decided to coach for the Bills (Thanks, Ed). I do think, however, that if Ray Lewis joined the Ravens that would be enough to convince Reed to re-join the Ravens, especially since Rex is no longer in Buffalo. But talk is cheap and first thing's first- I'll only believe Ray Lewis wants to coach when I see him on the sidelines.

How about crucial drops? There is a difference you know. You're reaching, dude. Since SB 47, Flacco has finished near the bottom of the league each year. The guy stinks.